diff --git a/opencensus/trace/utils.py b/opencensus/trace/utils.py
index 5b9be3473..fb1be3282 100644
--- a/opencensus/trace/utils.py
+++ b/opencensus/trace/utils.py
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ def get_func_name(func):
 
 def disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths=None):
     """Disable tracing on the provided excludelist paths, by default not tracing
-    the health check request.
+    the health check request. Paths can be provided as regex patterns.
 
-    If the url path starts with the excludelisted path, return True.
+    If the url path matches the excludelisted path, return True.
 
     :type excludelist_paths: list
     :param excludelist_paths: Paths that not tracing.
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths=None):
     url_path = url.split('/', 1)[1]
 
     for path in excludelist_paths:
-        if url_path.startswith(path):
+        if re.match(path, url_path):
             return True
 
     return False
diff --git a/tests/unit/trace/test_ext_utils.py b/tests/unit/trace/test_ext_utils.py
index e322158a7..7b25ef2a8 100644
--- a/tests/unit/trace/test_ext_utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/trace/test_ext_utils.py
@@ -58,6 +58,59 @@ def test_disable_tracing_url_explicit(self):
         disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
         self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
 
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_partial(self):
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/test_no_tracing'
+        excludelist_paths = ['test']
+
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_partial_regex_match(self):
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/test_no_tracing'
+        excludelist_paths = ['^test']
+
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_partial_regex_nomatch(self):
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/test_no_tracing'
+        excludelist_paths = ['test$']
+
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertFalse(disable_tracing)
+
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_root(self):
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/'
+        excludelist_paths = ['']
+
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_root_regex(self):
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/'
+        excludelist_paths = ['^$']
+
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_root_empty_exclude(self):
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/test_no_tracing'
+        excludelist_paths = ['']
+
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
+    def test_disable_tracing_url_wildcard(self):
+        excludelist_paths = [r'test/(\w+/)*tracing']
+
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/test/no/tracing'
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
+        url = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/test/tracing'
+        disable_tracing = utils.disable_tracing_url(url, excludelist_paths)
+        self.assertTrue(disable_tracing)
+
     def test_disable_tracing_hostname_default(self):
         url = '127.0.0.1:8080'